A Lost and Found System for the Modern World
The hotel experience can extend beyond a guest's stay. Case in point: hotels that do everything in their power to connect with guests if they leave items behind.
Some guests misplace or forget clothing, a toothbrush, or other travel items in their hotel room. Meanwhile, others leave eyeglasses, medications, or dental prescriptions that can be frustrating to lose and expensive to replace.
How your hotel responds to lost items can have far-flung effects on your guest experience. With a lost and found system for the modern world, you're well-equipped to provide guests with outstanding experiences after they leave your hotel. These experiences can lead guests to stay at your hotel once again. Furthermore, they can drive guests to share their experiences with others, which can help your hotel increase its bookings and revenues.
Establish a Simple and Straightforward Lost and Found System
It won't take long to establish a lost and found system that works great for your hotel and your guests. To get started, evaluate your current system for lost items. From here, you can seek out ways to improve it.
Most hotels have policies in place for lost items. Hotels can hold lost items for a certain amount of time and require guests to call directly for pickup. Or, if an item is found in a guest's room, a hotel can contact the guest and offer to ship the item to him or her.
When it comes to your lost and found system, it pays to be proactive. First, invest in lost and found software, and you can use it to track lost items across your hotel. This software lets you organize lost items and track their status at any time. If a guest claims a lost item, you can use the software to quickly and seamlessly update its status, too.
Additionally, educate your staff about your lost and found system, how it works, and how to use it correctly. Respond to staff members' concerns and questions about your system. And verify that your team is doing everything in its power to return lost items to guests.
Use Guest Data to Your Advantage
In many instances, it can be tough to determine which guests lost items. Fortunately, you can use guest data to investigate lost items and figure out who are their rightful owners.
For instance, if a lost item is found in a guest room, find out who most recently stayed in the room. Next, you can look up the guest's booking information. You can then call or email the guest to ask if he or she is missing the item. This is beneficial for multiple reasons. It allows you to determine if the lost item belongs to the latest room guest. Also, since you're going above and beyond the call of duty to help your guest, the experience can help him or her feel special.
Don't forget to track data surrounding lost items at different areas of your hotel. For example, guests can use their room keys to gain access to your hotel's gym, pool, and other areas. If an item is lost in one of these areas, track the time it was discovered. You can then use data from guests' room keys to determine who was in the area leading up to the discovery. Finally, you can reach out to guests who were present to determine if the lost item is theirs.
Support Your Staff in Any Way Possible
If you want lost hotel items to be recovered, you need to provide your staff with adequate support. Otherwise, staff members can become overwhelmed if they are required to search for lost items or find their owners in addition to handling their daily tasks.
As always, keep adequate staff on hand. Evaluate your staffing regularly and determine if additional team members are needed at different times during the year. If you need to hire more employees, do so right away.
When you hire staff members, provide them with a terrific onboarding process. Ideally, your onboarding process should explain the duties associated with a new hire's role and get him or her up to speed on how to perform myriad tasks. At the same time, a new hire should learn how to report lost items. He or she should have no trouble reaching out with any concerns or questions during the onboarding process as well.
Collect feedback from staff regarding your lost and found system and other aspects of your hotel's operations. Staff members can share tips, recommendations, and insights to help you improve your hotel. And they can provide feedback on what they hear from guests.
Implement a Lost and Found System for the Modern World
Your hotel wants to embrace every opportunity to provide its guests with memorable experiences. Thanks to a lost and found system for the modern world, you can take the guest experience to the next level.
Upgrade your guest experience by implementing a lost and found system for the modern world. That way, you can provide guests with amazing experiences as they try to recover their lost items.
Author: Luke Smith
